My 4 moth old has only been pooping about once a week, or once every 5 days or so. He has been doing this for a few months now. He is formula fed only, we have not started solids. (PLEASE, I dont need to hear any commentary on breastfeeding) He initially started on Enfimil newborn but was having tummy issues around 1 month old and we switched to Similac sensitive and the tummy troubles resolved quickly. Can't even get him to poop by "taking his temp". I have asked his pediatrician about it multiple times, and she says as long as it is soft, he is fine. She says it is not constipation unless the stool is hard. It just seems so wierd to me to only go once a week!!! Has anyone else experience this?
No growth problems at all.... he is 17lbs and 27 inches! He is off the charts in height and about 88% for weight. He puts away about 30-35 oz of formula a day.... but where does it all go???
BTW - the doctor recommended the thermometer trick. I dont do it a lot and I am certainly careful! No more danger in this than taking their temp when they are sick.
Everyone is different. He is apparently absorbing all the good things from the formula and only needs to discard every 4 days. Be thankful. Sh*tty diapers stink.
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He is fine. This happened to my first and I hounded my doctor daily. Bless that woman. She was patient with me.
Formulas and breast milk have little waste. Frequent pooping is produced by peristalsis (basically the motion of your intestines to push it's contents out). Sucking induces peristalsis. This is why a lot of babies poop after feeding.
There are some children who's sucking do not induce peristalsis. Their body only excretes the actual waste. The rest of the feeding is used by the body. For energy & growth. If the baby is does not show signs of discomfort and the stool is relatively soft then the baby is ok.
It sounds as if his body is simply actually using the formula he's eating and there's very little waste left over. Don't "take his temp" rectally to try to get him to poop because you're going to risk tearing his poor little rectum and then you'll actually have some toileting issues with the baby. Then he'll start withholding the little bit of soft poop that he's producing due to pain, and he'll remember that pain, and he'll compact himself and the poop will build up and cause all sorts of issues. Just... don't do the rectal thermometer thing because you have no need to do it. Let his body figure things out on its own at this point.
Every little body is different. I'm sure it's kind freaky but if your dr. thinks it's ok - and you're sure he doesn't have hard stools - it's just his "pace". I think I remember reading once that formula causes different/less BMs in general. I guess you can be thankful for less poopy diaper changes :)
miralax is a gr8 thing you put it in a drink it is tasteless my child has used it and he is fine now it is really good
A friend of mine has a baby just like that. He eats very well, but just rarely poops. Her doctor said the same thing. As long as he's not straining hard to poop and he's growing like a weed, try to put it aside. Maybe once he's eating "real" food things will change??
Is he eating and growing well? Not pooping much can be a sign of not getting enough nutrients/calories. So yeah - it sounds weird to me too, but I guess every baby is different!
My daughter even though she was a bf baby pooped only around once every week to 2 weeks! Occasionally it was like rabbit poop-but that is what is normal for her:)
thats normal if his poops are hard then worry my girls did this too :)
my 4 mnth old only goes every four days or so, and when she goes she explodes. Our peditrition said the same thing. If his tummy doesn't seem to be bothering him don't worry about it.
My son had these troubles when he was little too. We switched to soy formula and then he was all better. Maybe that will help? We had to try so many different ones before we tried the soy. Wish we had sooner!
Also, give him gas drops that will help his tummy too.
Eek! That has to be painful!
When my son was about 5 or 6 months, our doctor told us to give him this toddler juice mixed with mostly water. It was an apple/ prune juice and it helped him get it all out. I would maybe get a second opinion, because if he is backed up it can do damage, and ouch how painful!
